Nah, you probably will be at least somewhat satisfied with what King does.

I’m just more hopeful now that King is moving the plot along. It’s not like it’s some sort of mystery plot due to his blunt as hell writing (and there’s a bit in here where he again just drops thematics into the dialogue), so I’m giving it some leeway in my optimism.

Youngblood #6: The first arc of this new Youngblood run, winkingly called “Reborn” I expect, has ended. And it’s just been a fun ride. It has so much going for it in terms of art, pacing, the story that is being told and general all around execution. It’s not breaking waves, but it is providing good cape comics. And especially in terms of teen teams that is something that is very much a lost art. Finale wrapped things up nicely and the twists - especially for Badrock…were ballsy.

Hope it continues to be this well done when it comes back in December.

So Detective Comics #966 came out today. Nothing else really matters. I’m not exactly impartial, but this was a really great issue, with Batman & Robin facing a most unexpected foe in Mr Oz’s abandoned prison. Barrows’ artwork was beautiful, as usual, and there were some really great uses of page turns in this issue. I liked those a lot. Story wise, the characterisation in this issue was spot on, and that character does appear in the book, but probably not in the way the rumour intended. I can’t wait for the next issue.

An okay issue of Action Comics this week, but I’m still unsure about the whole Mr OZ reveal. It’s just not exciting me, especially since this issue ends with what looks like setup for another battle for Jon story. We’ll see how the final part works out.

Detective Comics continues to be fantastic. I loved the different looks at each Robin taking their turn at putting on the cowl. And it’ll be interesting to see how the Conner tease plays out. I don’t think we’ll see a full on return. But maybe an alternate timeline version will show up or something.

Nothing new this week, so a bit of a catch-up of the last few weeks is in order:

Avatarex #4: Quite an action-heavy issue, this one sees the book’s hero go up against a female enemy - whose enmity is stoked by the kinds of sexual abuses and rapes in India that have regularly made the headlines worldwide in recent months and years. However, there’s no attempt to examine the subject in any depth, with most of the issue a fairly traditional superhero fight (albeit one that ends with a satisfying conclusion that ties into the book’s larger story). Edison ‘Manu’ George provides some lovely, finely-rendered art: the book is on an erratic schedule but I don’t really mind when it looks this good.

The Wild Storm #7: The acrobatic action scenes stick out in my memory of this issue, although not a huge amount else does. The art feels like it’s getting stronger and more confident (partly due to the use of bolder colour as Jake mentioned a while back), but the story is still creeping along, in traditional Ellis style. It’s still a solid book but I wonder whether (as with most Ellis projects) the tradewaiters have got the right idea with this one.

Saga #47: This is one of those character-focused issues that doesn’t really focus on the series’ leads, but fleshes out one of the members of the supporting cast in a lot more detail. It ties back into lots of events from previous arcs of the series, and sets up some new aspects of the book that are sure to catch up with the main protagonists at some point. Given that I wasn’t really enjoying the current arc that much, this made for a welcome break.

Jessica Jones #13: Writing the defining story for your character can be a bit of a double-edged sword. Once you’ve done that, where do you go from there? With Jessica Jones, that story was the Purple Man arc from the end of Alias - and since then, the character has always felt like she’s been spinning her wheels to some extent. This issue kicks off a storyline that looks like it’s going to act as a direct sequel to that one, as the Purple Man comes back into Jessica’s life in a new and disturbing way. While parts of Alias sought to address the emotional and psychological side of opening yourself up to a new relationship - with all the vulnerability and potential for harm that that can bring - this story arc looks like it’s going to concentrate on how a couple’s life is complicated by the presence of a child, and how that vulnerability is embodied in your offspring. It will be a tall order to top that earlier story, but this one makes a pretty good start.

Cinema Purgatorio #12: I think Code Pru might have become my favourite strip in this book now, and this issue gives us another cracking comedy spin on a famous movie monster. Although the title strip is still very enjoyable too (this one mashes up It’s A Wonderful Life with some musings on Hollywood stuntmen and stand-ins). Modded provides a decent riff on video game ideas, while The Vast and A More Perfect Union get by on the strength of Gabriel Andrade’s art, despite the weaknesses of their slow-moving serialised stories.